File system



Patented Aug. is, 1931 f UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE f i i noiiNEY J. woon, oF DAYTON, voiiio, -Assienon To nEiuiiIGToi-i YRANDy INC., `or BUFFALO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION oF DELAWARE FILE svsTEivr applicati@ med November 2, 1923. serial No. @23322.

My invention relates to card index systems and more particularly "to a directory or index guide for a list of names. v

The present index consists of a collection 5v of sheets, each containing a list or plurality of names. The collection of name lists are divided into groups alphabetically, so that the lists in each alphabetical group containV only family names beginning with the same letter. These family name groups are separated by correspondingly initialed guides. Each group of data sheets or lists of family names having like first letters are further sub-divided according to the second letter ofL the family name, and these subdivisions may Vbe furtherV divided according to the third letter of the family name. Such classification may be extended to includekany number of identification letters. p

Whether the provision of the lists of names is carried through the second, third and subsequent letters ofV the vfamily name, or whether such sheets and lists are divided the family names, and regardless of the subsequent letter, the -given name or initial of -vide .a system, whereby` particular or individual names may be readily andvquickly beginning with-A are found inthe first.

column, those beginning with B are found in the second column, those having E for the first' letter being found -in the fifth column, and so forth. Inasmuch as among a considerable group yor number of persons. having similar family names or names ofY` which the first one, two or three letters may l and combinationsthereof, and the arrangegiven names or first name initials across they sheet in different columns of alphabetical succession affords a further .division or separation of such vindividuals into groups Vor classes itates the The sheets or lists of names may have assoof operation.

of small numbers, which facil? 4selection of a particular name.-

ciated therewith,v the addresses ofthe ini dividuals, numbers indicative of ledger acsymbols` indicative of-the individuals financial orr credit rating, or figures indicative ofV his credit limit, amount due, or other general information.

vThe object of the invention is to simplify such index or directory systems, whereby they will not only be inexpensive, but will be' more efficient in operation, compact, but permitting a vast number of names and data pertaining thereto to be arranged 1in lminimum space, readily` accessible tov enable the selection of a desired name'with minimum movementand with greatrapidity or speed ik further object iof the invention is to provide a system wherein entries may be made upon the card, either byhand writing `or by passing the cards through a typewriter,

or Calculating machine, by which names and numbers or amounts'inay be entered, directly thereon. A

A further object o f the invention is to prodental objects inview as will more fully appear in the specification, the invention consists of theu features of construction, the parts ment-ofthe cards, and the distribution of names and initials thereon, and the mode -of operation or their equivalents as hereinafter described` and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown the preferred, but obviously, not neces` sarily the only form of embodiment of the invention, Figfl, isa front elevation kof a collection of data sheet-s or name lists, illustrating the embodiment of the invention.V

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the top or side portion only of the groups of sheets, or leaves, pertaining to one family name initial. Fig. 3 is asomewhat diagrammatic view illustrating the data sheets or lists pertaining to the sub-division and the method of locating selected names upon the different data sheets or leaves.

Like parts are indicated. by similar characters of reference ,throughout the several views. Y Y

In the drawings, l indicates a collection of data sheets or leaves, each bearing a .listof naines of greater or less extent. Thesevleaves 0r data sheets may beof any suitable size,

Veither as vto width orto height, necessary to accommodate the desired number of names,

and accompanying dataor information. In-

asmuch as thesel sheets are oscillated toy and fro or separated into portions to expose a desired' datasheet or leaf in the manner' of the ordinary and usual index le system, they are preferably mounted in a suitable holder oi carrier. Such holder or carrier may be similar to a ring book, a loose leaf binder or a card file box. The particular form of holder or mounting forms no part of the present vinvention. Y

The ldata sheets or leaves l are divided into groups alphabetically designated in accord-V ance with the first letters of the family names, entered upon the different sheets. In Fig."

l, four of these primary alphabetical groups have been shown. The groups are identified b v the family naine initials, H, I, J and K,located upon Vguidetabs indented from the left at the top of the data. sheets orcards4 as shown at 2. All ofthe data sheets inl each of these groups bear a list of names having corresponding initials for the family` names. l That is to say, all the nainesv appearing uponthe data sheet in the group J have family naines beginning with J', while those in the group H bear names of which the family name begins with H. I p

The data sheets or leaves of each of these primary groups are sub-divided alphabetically in accordance with the second letter of the family'name. This second grouping or sub-division will not involve all the letters`A of the alphabet. By referring to city directories, telephone directories and other large l lists of names.y it will be found that the first 'a vowel, :caux-caen caa?, :con OI.

two letters of the names appear in certain f rather limited combinations, but which differs somewhat for names having differentV initial letters. It so happens that the names beginning with H almost invariably .employ u as their second letter. (As is shown in Fig. l.) However, the present system is not founded upon the vowel sequence.V To illust-ratethe variation naturally loccurring in various directories and lists of names, the second letterYv sub-divisions of the primary C group have been illustrated in Fig. 2. It is found that an initial C is usually found followed by a, ((6777 1.177, i777 l, 0777 ((1,77 O1, {4L-L77. subdivision guide designations appear at 3 upon the intermediate data sheetsl or leaves between the primary guide designations 2, and are also indented from the left to a greater extent than the primary designations 2. However, ordinarily these sub-division `designations or intermediate group guides 3 are concealed between the primary guides 2, and are not visible until the collection of leaves or sheets is separated in accordance with the 'primary guides 2.

The data sheets or leaves l comprising the secondary group or sub-divisions indicated by the guide letters 3, arefurther separated according to the :third letter ofthe family name.V However, to econoniize space, and make the index compact, and in view kof the,r fact that lists of family names having the first three letters identical will not be vvery exten-sive, it will, be found desirable to place upon the saine data sheet or leaf, names of which the first two letters may be identical, but the third letter may differ. For instance in Fig. l, there are shown upon the same leaf or sheet, names'beginning Hea, Hec, Hed, Hee, Hef, and Heg.v It is 'not necessary for the purpose ofthis index, Ynor to facilitate.

the finding of particular names, that the names be arrangedv inal'phabetical succession, ast'o'snch third letter.v For example in Fig. l, thev same family names are found at both the top and bottom ofthe list, while near. the middleof the list a name having Heg.

precedes Heb. Each'data. sheet or leaf carries upon its gi'iide tab at 'the top of a sheet, a

third series o f index'letters 6, pertaining to `the `third letter ofthe family name. guide tabs carrying such third position index The.

letters are indented 'from the right, in overlapping relationpor echelon, to expose to view uponv each leafV or sheet the particular letters, comprising thetliirdpositionletters.

tain the family names beginning Hem, to

and including Heq, which guide letters are displayed upon the exposed'portionof the overlapping tab; The apportionment of the 4third position letters to the vdifferent sheets will depend somewhat upon the extent of the Consequently, he index tab for? cated with the V in the corresponding a'lpha- "list namesand 'the similarity. `This=allot ment or arrangement of; the thirdY position letter guide is notarbitrarily fixed. *This can onlybedetermined at the time the names' are written ior printeduponthe Vrespective sheets.

there 'are so many'names beginning Hea and Hebas to fill the entire sheet or approximately fill the same, all those names beginning Hee, Hed, etc. willl be placed onthe succeedingV sheet orV leaf until that also is filled. If there aremore names invany such thirdposition elassication than can be contained upon any one data sheet or leaf, additional leaves may be inserted in front of the third letter index sheet, andthe heading or index letters omitted from such inserted Vor supplemental sheet or leaf. For convenience the data sheet-s or leaves `are preferably,

though not necessarily originally printed' with' the complete alphabetextending across the sheet or leaf adjacent to its top margin. Asthe list of names are entered upon the several sheets, the top margins arev cut away or indented from the right to whatever extent may be necessary, in order that there may be left exposed to view those letters only,

which comprise the third position letters, of family names appearing upon that particular sheet. When the sheets are assembled, the overlapping exposed portions of the tabs or lettered top portions display the full alphabet in regular succession.

Each of the data sheets or leaves bears a i list of family names 4, having as their initial letter, the designating letter .ofthe primary vgroup 2 and as the second letter of such family name, one corresponding tothe identifying letter 3 of the secondary group or subdivision. In the present instance, the

rcolumn of family names has been shown arsheet with the firstname initial located in the corresponding alphabetical column 5. For instance, the initial C of the `name Charles appears in the third column or column, while the initial H of the name Howard appears in the H column, being roffset toward the right-beyond the name'Charles, as also the name Harry. rllhe initials V L are lobetical column, while William is located one column further to the right. This affords a very definite classification, in which few of the' names will fall into each class and in which these few may be readily distinguished from the others. It will be noted that on the fragmentv of data sheet shown in Fig. 1,

lthere are twenty-seven lfamily names, of which only three have given namesbeglnning with one with B, two with C-,and one yeachin the' J, L, N,'P, S, Tand 1V classes or columns.` Having found the sheet containing the desired family name bythe guide letters 2`and 3it is not necessary to search inthe? columnv` 4, the` particular name, but by glancing Ldownthe column 5 pertaining to the Iinitial of the first or given'name, the desired nameis readily found.

The letteredV tabsorto'p margins ofthea' sheet serve the double purpose ofthe family name third letter index, and also as anindex for guide letter foreach of the alphabetical columns pertaining to the first or `given "nameslg lhile the letters pertaining to cerf" tain initial or first name column 5 may have willalign with the correspondingly letter-ed columns of the next succeeding'sheet. Since as before mentioned,the overlapping exposedl` portion of the lettered'margins of the sheet display the Vcomplete alphabet,the initial or lfirst name columns 15,' are readilyy selected.

In Fig. 8, the sheet pertaining to the secondary group or sub-division R of the pri-i`r marygroup or divisionB have been shown separatedfrom each other, and by means of lead 'lines the manner ofemploying the in- 'been -cut' oflof ythe datasheet, suchcolumns vdex for the location of particular names vhas been illustrated diagrammatically. Assuming that the desired naine! isI that yof Charles Brady, the *collectionv of leaves or data sheets is separated according to the primary A guide Vletter B. ByV separating the n collection -of leaves at this point, the secondary guides 3 are then exposed, and such secondary group is separated at the index letter Rf vThis exposes toview `the overlapping letter tabs or top \margins of the several sheets, arranged in echelon, to display the complete alphabet.'a While the letters A, B, C and D appear on each of the leaves 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D, it is only the first leaf 1A which is in view when the index is open, at the guide B. All of the names beginningv Bra,

Brb, Brc and Brd are upon this first sheet, It is not`v necessary to look down the column Vof familynames to find the name Brady, whichV maybe located, either near`r the top -or the bottom o-f thecolumn, but since the de- 1 sired name is CharleslBrady, the Searcher glances-downthe C column.' While there maybe several initials C appearing in 'this column, `there is likely to be only -oneA Charles Brady, although there may benumerous other Bradys. If the desired name isthat of John Broclnthe initial letter Bis found in the primary index 2, and the separation lof this sheet willfexpose tc view 'the` letter guides 3 of the secondary group or sub-division infwhich the R is selected, and uponopening the collection kof sheets at the point indicated by the R, there is exposed to view the complete alphabctdi'stributed upon several indented sheets,f1-A, 1B, 1C, 1D and nze - elusive.

i and thecollection of sheets of the index is accordingly separated. This exposes the secondary index 3, and the second letter of the name Brinkle, to Wit: r is selected.V Upon `opening the series of leaves in accordance Y withthe guide letter r, there ris exposed to vir-ew thecomplete alphabet appearing upon the overlapping portions ofthe top margins or tabs of the several sheets 1A to 1E in- The sheet upon which the letters i are exposed is then selected, but without referring to the family name column 4lupon such sheet, the observer looks down the column 5, which registers with the letter W, and finding the initial W or name William, glances across to the column l until he finds such name Nilliam or initial WV, alined withfthe family name Brinkle. rllhus instead of searching through the entire column 4 for the particularfamily name, of whichduplicates may numerouslyr occur, the field of search is restricted to very narrow limits by searching for the first or given name, and then fitting such given name to the family name.

The system describedl enables a desired name to be very quickly located, jand permits a large number of names to be arranged in a small compact file unit. ln actual practice, a name index system such as described, having a capacity of seventeen thousand names `and actually containing more than twelve thousand names has been embodied in a collection of data sheetsl or leaves having a thickness of approximately three fourths of an inch.

Vilhile as before mentioned the third letter index 6 at the top margin of the sheet serves also as the index for the columns 5, pertainingto, the first name initials, if desired a second'series of index letters 7 may be provided for the columns 5', although such additional columnarindex 7 is not essential nor necessary. l

A particularly advantageous feature ofthe present system is that additional names may be added at the end of the list without regard to the sequence of letters, and such names may be equally as easily selected or located asv if placed in regular order or sequence. For instance, in the` ordinary directory or i index arrangement, names beginning Heb necessarily follow the Hea names, and Hec I follow Heb etc. Mostindex les are depend- .ent uponl some mechanical feature which'en- .the list shown are the same las the first two names, and atthe middle of the lists the name Heddle precedesthe name Hecht, andalso. at

.the bottom of the list,fth e nameV Hebelnian is preceded by the name vl-Iegman.

Nevertheless thesenamesare selected or located with equal facility by the first name selective system, herein described and it is not at all necessary that they vshould be arranged in anyV particular order upon the data sheet or list.

In files wherein the names are arranged in sequence, the insertion of other names necessitates a shifting of the original names and a variation of spacing or location. In the present device the locations of names are not changed and the operator is enabled by habit to quickly locate a name in its accustomed place.

The data sheets all contain names and ini-v tials, and no blank sheets or subdivision sheets are necessary as is usual with most of the alphabetical filing systems, to accommodate new names. However, blank lines are left on each sheet for this purpose and when these lines are all filled, a supplemental sheet is inserted.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thus provided a device of the character described possessing the par-V ticular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable.v but which obviously is `susceptible of modication in its form, proportions, detail construction and l arrangement of parts. without departing from the principle involved `or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Vhile in order to comply with the statute the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed lcomprises the preferred form of several series of columns appropriately designated by the alphabetical succession of lettersl for the entry of given name initials pertaining to the family names on a sheet and corresponding to such alphabetical column' designations, like positions upon the succeeding sheets being occupied by columns pertaining to like initials. v

2. A series of sheets, a column on each sheet appropriate for the entryof lists of family names, and a series of vertical columnson each sheet for the entry of corresponding individual name initials opposite the family names, each sheet bearing a transversely dis- Eosed succession of the letters of the alpha-v et consecutively arranged, the sheets being arranged in overlapping relation to expose to vieW upon each sheet a different group of successive letters of the alphabet, Which designate said kvertical columns upon the several sheets in which to locate given name initials of names entered upon such sheets.

3. A series of sheets, a column of spacesL on each sheet appropriated to the entry of lists of family names, and a series of additional columns of spaces on each sheet for the entry of corresponding individual name initials opposite the family names, each sheet bearing a transversely disposed succession of the letters of the alphabet consecutively arranged in the said additional columns, the sheets being arranged in overlapping relation to expose to view upon each sheet a different group of successive letters of the alphabet, Which exposed letters comprise guide symbols corresponding with a predetermined ordinate of the letters of the family names entered upon such sheet and simultaneously designating the transverse position of particular spaces of the said additional series to receive corresponding given name initials pertainingto such family names.

4:. In a name indeX, a series of overlapping sheets, suitable spaces thereon appropriated to the entry of a series of family names, and additional appropriately designated spaces for the entry of individual name initials, the exposed portions of the sheets bearing different letters presenting to vievv in combination substantially a completeV alphabet, the letters of which comprise duo-functional guides corresponding to predetermined ordinal letters of the family names appearing upon the same sheets and designating the transverse positions upon the sheets of said spaces for the entry of given name initials pertaining to the family names.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set n my hand this 30th day of October, A. D. 1923.

RODNEY J. WOOD. 

